Protective Service Workers, All Other in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,396
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$9,964
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,021
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$52,360
Kept after tax
$42,396
Worth in national money
$48,021
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Oklahoma pays this job a middle wage of $52,360, ranking 15 of 51 states and sitting about 23.08% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Oklahoma, this sits in the middle: 230 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $52,360 you keep $42,396 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $48,021 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $52,090.
- Oklahoma's median for protective service workers, all other is $52,360, about 23.08% above the national figure and 15 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Protective service workers, all other ranks 230 of 492 occupations in Oklahoma by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Oklahoma is $42,396 after the full tax stack, from $52,360. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $48,021 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,090 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Protective Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,330 |
| This salary | $52,360 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Oklahoma | $42,396 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,251 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,483 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $50,050 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,003 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of protective service workers, all other in Oklahoma earn under $52,360 and half over. The published range runs $31,460 at the tenth percentile to $77,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $42,396 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $52,360. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 230 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,021, the adjusted value of that $52,360 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 230 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for protective service workers, all other in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,460 to $77,330; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $42,396, from $52,360, assumes a single Oklahoma filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 230 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $48,021 — the adjusted value of that $52,360 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 230 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,460, the highest tenth $77,330, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $48,021 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Oklahoma's own levy, $42,396 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,460) and the ninetieth ($77,330) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $48,021 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $42,396 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.